Senegal reality TV show features prettiest sheep

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The street level of Ousmane Ndiaye’s building features a fabric shop. He and his family live on the second floor. Their upstairs neighbors? His beloved ram Billal and 10 other sheep.

Senegal is a nation where sheep are given names and kept inside homes as companions and the most popular television show is “Khar Bii,” or literally, “This Sheep,” in the local Wolof language.

It’s an American Idol-style nationwide search for Senegal’s most perfect specimen. Now in its fourth season, the show airs several times a week in the months leading up to Eid al-Adha, or Tabaski, as it’s known here.

In Senegal, the sheep’s ties to the important religious holiday have made them a part of many urban families in this predominantly Muslim country of 12.8 million people.